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The 2019 Lincoln Nautilus Photo 11 of 8The new Nautilus gets new powertrains, a new look and a suite of new electronic features as part of its mid-cycle facelift for 2019. Even the name Nautilus is new. It goes on sale about now starting at $41,335.

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The 2019 Lincoln Nautilus Photo 22 of 8The new Nautilus gets new powertrains, a new look and a suite of new electronic features as part of its mid-cycle facelift for 2019. Even the name Nautilus is new. It goes on sale about now starting at $41,335.

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The 2019 Lincoln Nautilus Photo 33 of 8The new Nautilus gets new powertrains, a new look and a suite of new electronic features as part of its mid-cycle facelift for 2019. Even the name Nautilus is new. It goes on sale about now starting at $41,335.

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The 2019 Lincoln Nautilus Photo 44 of 8The new Nautilus gets new powertrains, a new look and a suite of new electronic features as part of its mid-cycle facelift for 2019. Even the name Nautilus is new. It goes on sale about now starting at $41,335.

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The 2019 Lincoln Nautilus Photo 55 of 8The new Nautilus gets new powertrains, a new look and a suite of new electronic features as part of its mid-cycle facelift for 2019. Even the name Nautilus is new. It goes on sale about now starting at $41,335.

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The 2019 Lincoln Nautilus Photo 66 of 8The new Nautilus gets new powertrains, a new look and a suite of new electronic features as part of its mid-cycle facelift for 2019. Even the name Nautilus is new. It goes on sale about now starting at $41,335.

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The 2019 Lincoln Nautilus Photo 77 of 8The new Nautilus gets new powertrains, a new look and a suite of new electronic features as part of its mid-cycle facelift for 2019. Even the name Nautilus is new. It goes on sale about now starting at $41,335.

2019 Lincoln Nautilus first drive: Former MKX gets the Lincoln look, new features

Lincoln's new Nautilus midsize SUV achieves sorta semi-autonomous driving and gains loads of other techy features

September 21, 2018

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Way back in ancient times, before the rise of the internet, when information, knowledge and car reviews came on the printed page and nowhere else, there was a two-line gap at the bottom of some Autoweek article. This gap wasn’t noticed until “the boards” had been pasted up and were ready to be boxed up and sent to the printer. What to do, the then-Autoweek staff wondered? One quick-thinking senior editor (Bill Lovell, legend has it) wrote,

Trivia Answer

Lincoln: The Man and the Car

It filled the space perfectly and no readers ever wrote in to ask just exactly where the trivia question was.

“This segment represents one-quarter of our volume,” said Robert Parker, Lincoln’s director of marketing, sales and service. “This is a really, really important product.”

Yes, Lincoln has been in the midsize luxury segment since 2002 when it began building the Ford Explorer-based, body-on-frame Aviator. But the Explorer body-on-frame design and luxury didn’t go together well, so in late 2006, Lincoln switched to the far-smoother Ford Fusion/Mondeo/Edge platform and introduced the MKX. Two years ago, the MKX got new underpinnings, with a luxury ride similar to the new Lincoln Continental as well as the Fusion. Now, in what is known as a midcycle facelift, the former MKX gets a new all-Lincoln face, new engine options and a new name: Nautilus.

“It invokes images of exploration and discovery,” said one Lincoln exec. That it does, a lot more so than “MKX.”

It will be exploring not only the midsize luxury segment in the U.S. but the entire burgeoning Chinese market.

11 of 11Next Gallery: Ford and Lincoln cars are stuck in customs in China report says

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To do that exploring, wedged into that semi-Continental architecture is an all-new powertrain. The base engine option is now a new 250-hp turbocharged 2.0-liter four, while the more upscale models will get a 335-hp twin-turbo 2.7-liter V6. Both will be mated to Ford’s new eight-speed automatic, the first application for that new transmission. Front- and all wheel-drive layouts are available.

In addition to turbocharging, both engines use direct injection and twin-independent variable camshaft timing to eke the maximum out of their respective displacements. The 2.0-liter’s 250 peak hp comes at 5,500 rpm, with peak torque of 280 lb-ft is listed at 3,000 revs. The 2.7 V6 hits 335 hp at 5,500 rpm and 380 lb-ft of torque at 3,250.

Both models are engineered for a smoother, quieter ride. Both get acoustic laminated glass, thicker carpets and “stuffers” in the wheel wells (“stuffers,” I learned, are insulating layers meant to keep unwanted sound out of the cabin).

33 of 33Next Gallery: Range Rover SV Coupe will get back to its two door luxury SUV roots

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As you might expect, all that adds weight. The front-drive Nautilus tips the scales at 4,142 pounds and the AWD model at 4,305. That affects acceleration, as you might guess. I tried timing a 0-60 launch in the more powerful 2.7-liter Lincoln using the highly unscientific handheld-Apple-iPhone-stopwatch method. I sat in the passenger seat while a leadfooted colleague drove. “Go!” I yelped, simultaneously hitting “start” on the phone. For a long time, nothing happened -– the Nautilus was for Naut. “What is wrong with you?” I demanded, demonstrating both my management and interpersonal communication ability. “It’s not me!” he squealed. Apparently there is about a one-second delay between the time you stomp on the gas and the time when the Nautilus decides to depart the line. So we tried again and got a 7.93 0-60 time. Maybe it would have been a second quicker had we tried brake-torquing the thing, but we’re idiots.

As for the drive, I immediately decided the electric power-assisted steering is way too jumpy. This is supposed to be a luxury car, not an autocrosser. So, once underway, I started playing around with the various adjustments. You can change the performance of the Nautilus in a menu that allows you to adjust “Handling in Drive,” “Handling in Sport” and “Performance in Sport.” Within each of those, you can set parameters to comfort, normal and sport. Most of the settings just made the whole thing jumpy, like a lab rat with too much caffeine. They are settings that are not right for this crossover -- or this class of crossover. I settled on comfort, and both I and, seemingly, the Nautilus felt happiest there, as if the car was originally set for this. Sure, it rolled a little more in that setting, and the shifts weren’t as quick, but you adjust for that as you corner and everything’s fine.

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That’s not really the point with this anyway. The point is luxury and convenience, mostly in a straight line, and to that end, the Lincoln is loaded. For instance, there’s a suite of features called Co-Pilot360 that includes things like blind-spot information system, cross-traffic alert, precollision assist with automatic emergency braking, auto high beams, and lane-keeping assist. Those are standard. Options include evasive steer assist to get around fixed objects you can’t avoid by braking, and lane-centering technology that works with adaptive cruise control to steer the car for you (as long as you keep your hands on the wheel). I don’t know if I’m in Lincoln’s target demographic –- I’ll be 60 next year -– but those “features,” as they do on any car from any manufacturer, drive me crazy. Why have what amounts to Level 2 or 3 autonomy if you still have to hold on to the wheel? Why would autonomous braking not stop you in time? And why does everything have to beep so danged much?

Lincoln, as do all its competitors, sees all these features as required in order to be competitive. Lincoln sold 111,159 vehicles in the U.S. last year, about the same as the year before. That’s about one-third of what BMW sold, only a fourth of Mercedes’ total, a third of Lexus, half of Audi, and even Cadillac and Acura moved over 150,000 cars and trucks out the doors. But as it changes all of its vehicles from nonsensical letters like MKX to adventurous names, and with its nice exteriors and more fuel-efficient engines, Lincoln sales can only go up.

The base Nautilus is $41,335, and you can load one up in Black Label trim, a level that includes a concierge, car washes, and restaurant recommendations, for close to 60 grand. Apart from the initially jumpy steering and all the beeping (the latter which is in every luxo-car sold around the world) I was generally happy after a day in the new Nautilus. Various Lincoln execs described long summer drives in cars full of kids from which everyone emerged happy and relaxed, which, they say, is the goal. And with the Chinese market seemingly willing to buy at least as many cars as we here in the U.S., the new Nautilus should be a success.